OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of the comparison between pit and fissure sealants and fluoride varnishes, as well as various types of sealants, in preventing caries on the occlusal surface of children's first permanent molars (FPM). METHODS: Conduct a comprehensive search of literature published between January 1, 1988, and May 30, 2024, in the following databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, China Science Periodical Database and China Biology Medicine database. Meta-analysis and subgroup analyses were performed on the literature that met the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of 5 618 pieces of literature were retrieved, resulting in the inclusion of 14 in the study. Meta-analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the efficacy between varies pit and fissure sealants compared to fluoride varnishes, and between varies types of sealants in preventing caries on the occlusal surface of children's first permanent molars within 24 months post-surgery (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Within 24 months, there was no significant difference in the effectiveness of using resin-based or glass iomomer pit and fissure sealants compared with fluoride varnishes in preventing occlusal caries in FPM in children; within 24 months, there was no significant difference in the effectiveness of using resin-based sealants compared with ART sealants in preventing occlusal caries in FPM in children. ART sealants are recommended over resin-based sealers for children who have no conditions for chair-side manipulation or who are poorly co-operative.
Humans ; Pit and Fissure Sealants/therapeutic use* ; Dental Caries/prevention & control* ; Molar ; Child ; Fluorides, Topical/therapeutic use* ; Dentition, Permanent

Based on the analysis of heart rate variability(HRV),a prediction method for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation(PAF)attacks is proposed.A new adaptive filtering technique is used for smoothing and coarse graining of HRV,followed by entropy-based quantification of HRV complexity at multiple adaptive scales.After the features are normalized by Min-Max,feature subsets are selected by sequential forward selection method,and then input to support vector machine to identify HRV types and predict PAF attacks.Through 5-fold cross-validation on a set of 50 HRV sequences each lasting 5 minutes,the optimal prediction results are obtained:98%accuracy,100%sensitivity,96%specificity,demonstrating excellent performance.In addition,the experiment shows significant changes(P<0.05)in the complexity eigenvalues of HRV far away from and close to PAF at different frequency bands,reflecting alterations in nervous system regulation of cardiac rhythm and a decline in the ability to adapt to external environmental changes such as stress regulation.

Objective:To analyze the effect of comprehensive rehabilitation intervention on the physical functioning of frail elderly persons.Methods:A total of 318 frail elderly persons were randomly divided into a control group ( n=164) and an observation group ( n=154) to test different interventions. Propensity score matching was used to balance the baseline information between the two groups 1∶1. A total of 200 cases were successfully matched, with 100 cases in each group. Both groups received drug treatment and routine nursing, while the observation group was additionally provided with comprehensive rehabilitation. Before and after 4 weeks of the treatment, both groups were evaluated using visual analogue scale (VAS) scoring for their perception of pain intensity, hand grip strength, gait speed, 6-minute walking distance (6MWD), 5 sit-up time, and the timed up and go test (TUGT). Results:There were no significant differences between the groups in any of the measurements before the experiment. Afterward, all of the outcome measures except gait speed were significantly better among the experimental group than among the controls, on average.Conclusions:Comprehensive rehabilitation can relieve pain, improve the walking, handgrip strength and exercise endurance of the frail elderly.

Objective This study aimed to investigate the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants among patients with depression at different age stages.Methods One hundred thirty five patients with depression(including 63 elderly patients aged 60 years and older,and 72 young and middle-aged patients under 60 years old)and 98 healthy controls(including 46 elderly controls aged 60 years and older,and 52 young and middle-aged controls aged under 60 years old)were enrolled.Serum levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants(uric acid,total bilirubin,albumin)were assessed.Results Multiple analysis of variance showed the main effects of depression factors on uric acid and total bilirubin were significant(P<0.05).Uric acid[(314.30±85.18)μmol/L vs.(339.68±85.27)μmol/L],total bilirubin[(12.81±6.16)μmol/L vs.(15.09±5.97)μmol/L]levels were lower in patients with depression than in controls(P<0.05).There was an interactive effect between age and depression factors on the levels of albumin(P<0.001),and the levels of albumin[(41.05±3.97)g/L vs.(46.01±4.49)g/L]were lower in group of the elderly patients with depression than those in group of the young and middle-aged patients with depression(P<0.01).Conclusion Patients with depression have abnormalities in levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants which are more severe in elderly patients.

Guillain-Barre syndrome rarely develops after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), and only a few reports exist in China. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an acute and life-threatening condition that requires early diagnosis and treatment. A patient with acute myeloid leukemia underwent allogeneic HSCT for >5 months and gradually developed limb muscle weakness and limited eye movement after coexisting with delayed acute intestinal graft-versus-host disease. After the examination of cerebrospinal fluid and electromyography, the diagnosis of Guillain–Barre syndrome was confirmed. After a high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment, muscle strength gradually recovered, and the prognosis was good.

The onset of myasthenia gravis (MG) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) seriously threatens the survival of patients, since it is acute, and is prone to rapid progression. Two patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), who had undergone allo-HSCT developed shortness of breath, and gradually developed cervical weakness and dyspnea. The acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody and neostigmine test enabled the diagnosis of MG. The condition of the patients improved after treatment with pyridostigmine bromide, glucocorticoids and rituximab.

Heart failure is the leading cause of death worldwide. Compound Danshen Dripping Pill (CDDP) or CDDP combined with simvastatin has been widely used to treat patients with myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases in China. However, the effect of CDDP on hypercholesterolemia/atherosclerosis-induced heart failure is unknown. We constructed a new model of heart failure induced by hypercholesterolemia/atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and LDL receptor (LDLR) dual deficient (ApoE^-/-LDLR^-/-) mice and investigated the effect of CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin on the heart failure. CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin inhibited heart injury by multiple actions including anti-myocardial dysfunction and anti-fibrosis. Mechanistically, both Wnt and lysine-specific demethylase 4A (KDM4A) pathways were significantly activated in mice with heart injury. Conversely, CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin inhibited Wnt pathway by markedly up-regulating expression of Wnt inhibitors. While the anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative stress by CDDP were achieved by inhibiting KDM4A expression and activity. In addition, CDDP attenuated simvastatin-induced myolysis in skeletal muscle. Taken together, our study suggests that CDDP or CDDP plus a low dose of simvastatin can be an effective therapy to reduce hypercholesterolemia/atherosclerosis-induced heart failure.

Objective To investigate the value of MRI diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) technique in endocrine therapy for prostate cancer (PCa) based on PI-RADSv2.1. Methods A retrospective analysis of 57 patients with pathologically confirmed PCa was conducted. All patients underwent multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) according to PI-RADS v2.1 technical specifications before biopsy and six months after endocrine therapy. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were measured in cancer and non-cancer areas before biopsy and six months after endocrine therapy. Patients were grouped based on the mRECIST criteria and PSA level into responders (n=45) and non-responders (n=12). ROC curves were obtained to assess the correlation between changes in ADC values and PSA values before and after endocrine therapy. Results In the responder group, the ADC value of the cancer areas was increased significantly after endocrine therapy (P<0.001). No statistically significant difference of the ADC value of the cancer areas was found in the non-responder group before and six months after endocrine therapy (P=0.714). The ADC change of responders and non-responder groups were (0.411±0.178)×10^-3 mm²/s and (-0.014±0.125)×10^-3 mm²/s, respectively (P<0.001); the ADC ratio were (60.603±30.201)% and (-1.096±13.175)%, respectively (P<0.001). The cutoff value of the ADC change was 0.165 (AUC=0.974; sensitivity, 88.89%; specificity, 100.00%; PPV, 100.00%; NPV, 70.59%). The cutoff value of ADC ratio was 16.827% (AUC=0.980; sensitivity, 91.11%; specificity, 100.00%; PPV, 100.00%; NPV, 75.00%). The ADC values were negatively correlated with serum PSA before and after endocrine therapy. Conclusion The ADC change and ADC ratio may be facilitated to monitor the efficacy of endocrine therapy for PCa. The ADC values were negatively correlated with serum PSA.

Objective:To introduce a new TIANJI robot assisted targeted puncture technique, and discuss the feasibility and clinical effect of transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (tPELD) using this technique.Methods:The first 14 consecutive cases of single level lumbar disc herniation who underwent robot assisted tPELD procedure were retrospectively analyzed. The mean age was 46.3±16.0 years old (ranged from 16-72). After data transferred from C-arm to robot system and automatic registration, surgeons made plans of the trajectory on robot system based on intraoperative 3-dimensional images of lumbar spine. Move robotic arm to planned position, guide an accurate puncture pathway and establish working cannula. 25 consecutive patients who underwent conventional C-arm assisted tPELD surgery during the same period of time were assessed as the controlled group. The mean age was 45.5±13.7 years old (ranged from 16-68). All patients were followed up for 12 months. Clinical effect was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI) and Modified Macnab criteria. Intraoperative parameters and surgery-related complications were recorded.Results:The baseline data of age, surgical level, types of herniation, preoperative VAS scores and ODI had no significant difference between two groups ( P>0.05). In robot group, one case was converted to open microdiscectomy during operation due to technical failure. The other thirteen cases had successful robot assisted tPELD surgeries and were assessed accordingly. The new technique had good clinical outcomes. The immediate post-operative VAS score 2.85±1.79 and the last follow-up VAS score 1.50±1.04 were both significantly decreased than that before surgery 7.62±0.92 ( F=69.747, P<0.01); the last follow-up ODI 18.89%±12.16% was significantly reduced from the pre-operative ODI 71.19%±12.12% ( t=15.430, P<0.01). Between two groups, the immediate post-operative VAS score ( t=0.568, P=0.574), the last follow-up VAS score ( t=0.713, P=0.481), and last follow-up ODI had no significant difference ( t=0.171, P=0.865). The excellent or good rate of modified Macnab criteria at the last follow-up was 92.30% in robot group, comparing to 84.0% in controlled group. The fluoroscopic times during surgery of robot group 8.8±5.5 was significantly lowered the in controlled group 21.3±8.3 ( P<0.01). One case in robot group and two cases in controlled group had recurrence during follow-up period (recurrence rate 7.7% vs. 8.3%). However, there was no significant complications such as nerve root injury, dura injury or increased intracranial pressure in both groups. Conclusion:This study confirmed the feasibility of this new technique. Preliminary results indicated that TIANJI robot could help to build an easy, accurate and safe procedure of tPELD surgery.

Objective:To investigate the expression level of β-catenin and its relationship with clinicopathology and prognosis of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).Methods:Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of β-catenin mRNA in primary pancreatic cancer cell line and pancreatic ductal epithelial cell line HPDE6-C7 of the healthy. The data of 45 patients with PDAC confirmed by pathology at Xinjiang Medical University Cancer Hospital from June 2012 to December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression level of β-catenin in cancer tissues and adjacent tissues, and the correlation of β-catenin with pathological characteristics of patients with PDAC was analyzed. Cox proportional hazard model was performed to make univariate and multivariate analysis on the influencing factors of overall survival (OS).Results:The relative expression of β-catenin mRNA in primary pancreatic cancer cells was higher than that in HPDE6-C7 cell line [(3.83±0.83) vs. (1.00±0.03)], and the difference was statistically significant ( t = 3.45, P = 0.003). The high expression rate of β-catenin protein in PDAC tissues was higher than that in para-cancer tissues [68.9% (31/45) vs. 28.9% (14/45)], and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2 = 7.50, P = 0.005). The high expression rate of β-catenin protein in PDAC patients with different tumor diameter and TNM staging had statistically significant differences ( P = 0.026, P = 0.036). The median OS time of 45 patients was 22.5 months, and that of high expression of β-catenin protein group in 31 patients was 19 months, that of low expression of β-catenin group in 14 patients was 29 months, and the difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.009). Univariate Cox analysis showed that preoperative carbohydrate antigen199 (CA199) level, tumor diameter, tumor differentiation degree and the expression level of β-catenin protein were influencing factors of OS of patients with PDAC. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that preoperative CA199 ( OR = 9.883, 95% CI 2.815-34.689, P < 0.001), tumor diameter ( OR = 6.117, 95% CI 1.578-24.179, P = 0.009), tumor differentiation degree ( OR = 3.834, 95% CI 1.158-12.697, P = 0.028), the expression level of β-catenin protein ( OR = 0.139, 95% CI 0.045-0.430, P = 0.001) were independent affecting factors of OS of patients with PADC. Conclusions:β-catenin is abnormally highly expressed in PDAC which is correlated with the disease progression of patients and may be a new indicator and therapeutic target of prognosis for PDAC patients.